Breaking Barriers Full Documentation

BREAKING BARRIERS 48-400 FREESPACE STUDIO FREESPACE JENNIFER LUCCHINO

GHALYA ALSANEA

BLOOMFIELD, PITTSBURGH, PA

FINAL DOCUMENTATION PROJECT 1 RESEARCH PROJECT 2

P2 P 12 P 20

MM TREEHOUSE ESCAPE Ghalya Alsanea Project 1 Documentation F18 48-400 A FREESPACE Margaret Morrison Our chosen space was the small atrium space by the main stairwells in MM. We chose the space because it is the only multi-story space in MM, plus it offered many opportunities for light and incorporation of vertical circulation. Right now, there are people occasionally sitting in that space as a way to escape and have a nice well lit place to sit and study, which is why we believe it was a space that as begging to be utilized, but is severely underutilized at the moment.

Elevation 1’ = 1/2”

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BIENNALE INSPIRATION

LIQUID LIGHT

Alison Brooks | Passages

Flores & Prats Alison Brooks | Passages

Alison Brooks Passages

Flores & Prats Liquid Light

Alison Brooks plays with different planes as uses them as ways of punching through different planes and connecting one space to the other. I was inspired to create planes that connect two separated spaces.

This exhibit inspired me to see how light falls down in a vertical space.

FOLDING LANDSCAPE O’Donnell + Tuomey

Dorte Mandrup | Conditions Icefiord Center

Dorte Mandrup Conditions Iceord Center This project shows different planes cut horizontally, and I took inspiration to do something similar, but vertically.

Dorte Mandrup | Conditions Icefiord Center

O’Donnell + Tuomey Folding Landscapes This exhibit attracted me because of the way they take you up to a view, and that is one of my goals for this Project.

TREEHOUSE ESCAPE Ghalya Alsanea | Project 1 Documentation F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 3

PRIMARY IDEA Originally, I was inspired by treehouses and their ability to utilize verticality whilst using a small plan surface area. I wanted to explore different platforms that connect the building vertically and offers a more fun, non-traditional way of circulating through a building.

TREEHOUSE ESCAPE Ghalya Alsanea | Project 1 Documentation F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 4

FINAL DESIGN For the review, instead of separating the platforms CEILLING distinctly, I wanted to create occupiable circulatory platforms that are in between the bigger platforms.

To do this, I broke down the building into vertical important points and noticed STAIR 2 a rhythm. I chose to separate the space vertically into 6” increments because that matched the space’s rhythm and can be proportioned to fit the human scale.

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Stair Access between Floor A and 1 TREEHOUSE ESCAPE Ghalya Alsanea | Project 1 Documentation F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 5

PLANS By splitting the space into vertical increments, it allowed me to micro-analyze the space and what should be connected where. The logic was to create these overlapping planes and platforms that would provide access to views, connect different floors and stair platforms, offer areas of seating and quiet escape, and allow for comfortable steps between each plane.

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TREEHOUSE ESCAPE Plans Ghalya Alsanea | Project Scale: 1’ =11/4”Documentation F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 6

LOOKING DOWN AT THE SPACE I tried to work with the human proportions and create different opportunities for seating, bookshelves and steps.

TREEHOUSE ESCAPE Ghalya Alsanea | Project 1 Documentation F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 7

VIEW FROM STAIRWELL Providing access from the second floor space, which is currently a storage room.

TREEHOUSE ESCAPE Ghalya Alsanea | Project 1 Documentation F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 8

SECTIONS Structurally, the planks are made out of wood and connected to the building’s structure with steel brackets.

I tried to organize the platforms by making sure the bigger ones have direct access to the columns and structure of the building. some smaller planks can be held by secondary steel rods that connects to its neighboring planes.

Steel Brackets 2” Wooden Planks

Steel Rods

Structure Scale: 1’ = 3”

Sections TREEHOUSE ESCAPE Scale: Ghalya Alsanea1’|= 3/4” Project 1 Documentation

F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 9

MODEL EXPLORATION When making this model, I was still exploring different material types. I wanted to use a combination of translucent and opaque (wood), materials, but felt like the aesthetics were non-coherent. So I experimented with just translucent materials. The results were quite interesting, especially to see the overlapping translucencies between the planes. However, for my final I decided to go with wood to pull back on my original idea of a treehouse in an atrium.

Overlapping Diagram

TREEHOUSE ESCAPE Ghalya Alsanea | Project 1 Documentation F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 10

NEXT STEPS Moving forward, I felt like I had many ideas, but they were not working coherently together. I wanted to go back to the treehouse idea, but still hold the idea of connecting the different planes, having occupiable circulatory areas, and having an area to sit down and escape.

I went for the treehouse-feel by making these wood-woven hung pods at different significant heights to provide visual connection with the surroundings, The pods are connected with these woven nets. A big issue brought up in my review was safety and having some sort of rails to keep people from falling. After researching how playgrounds enclose kids without making it feel like a fence, I chose a net due to it’s flexibility and ability to be occupied. This creates a system of wooden pods and netted bridges.

TREEHOUSE ESCAPE Ghalya Alsanea | Project 1 Documentation F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 11

BIENNALE HISTORY RESEARCH As part of our studio’s discourse, we each picked a year of previous biennales to research.

1982-1983 ARCHITECTURE IN ISLAMIC COUNTRIES 2ND INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURE EXHIBITION DIRECTOR: PAOLO PORTOGHESI SUMMARY o “..Portoghesi proposes an overview on the Architecture in Islamic countries, from the aftermath of 2nd World War onward.” o “a privileged crossroads and a gathering point between Western and Eastern countries.” o how the influence of the Islamic culture has become stronger since the end of the 19th century, especially in western literature, arts and architecture, influencing personalities such as Gaudì, Wright and Le Corbusier.” o “The attention for environmental contexts, the spiritual component and the basic social purpose of Islamic architecture is opposed to the coldness and self-referential elements of modernist standards.”

MANIFESTO .

The chosen theme is to affirm the primacy of dialogue, the need to take action, at least in the world of culture, because the old fences are abolished and the conflicts resolved. The enice of the Biennale imposed, moreover, that the historical function of the city as a hinge between East and West could be interpreted as interpreting the dialogue between different civilizations and cultures; dialogue to discover a new condition, which renounces hierarchies, complexes of superiority, which recognizes the need to compare the points of view, renewing an ancient tradition. verses, the different “stories”, narrated by the two parts, to know and interpret common events; a dialogue that also establishes in the relations between the peoples the Copernican revolution that should replace the polycentric system of the culture of man in the monocentric system of western culture.” .

The path of decoloni ation is long and difficult but it would be absurdly discriminatory to think that it should be traveled without involvement and participation of Western culture. It is right to recall how the origins of modern Western art are located in the profoundly unhinged encounter with the art of “other” civilizations.”

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“Exotism and primitivism” 4.

“The economic resources produced by the exploitation of oil fields, the crisis of western colonialism, the renewed political fervor, have created the conditions for the development of a new building civilization of a thickness and of an interest still in much of it ignored. The rchitecture sector of the enice Biennale has decided to dedicate the 2nd International Architecture Exhibition to the Islamic world, thus capturing the historical occasion of documenting for the first time in the world, in a large unified review, the most significant aspects of this new building civilization - aunt. In it the particular contradictions that have shaken the illusory equilibrium of the architectural culture of the Western world are expressed with particular evidence and drama.”

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“The point of view is- and could not be otherwiseWestern; but it springs from a participatory interest and certainly not from an illusory affirmation of superiority.

The spontaneous and enthusiastic collaboration of the governments, institutions, universities and cultural exponents of Islamic countries has been an indispensable prerequisite for constructing this complex, certainly synthetic but far from schematic...”

REFLECTION o Something that stuck with me when researching this year of the biennale was the idea of “exoticism” and “primitivism”. The discourse this biennale created highlighted the divide between western and eastern cultures. At the time, the architecture global discourse was very western-centric. Portoghesi’s manifesto talks about how architects either exoticized Islamic and eastern architecture and culture, on a very surface-level basis, or how western architects take a more “colonizer” point of view and look at the eastern culture as primitive and never admitting the large influence of Islamic culture on western literature, arts and culture.

o Even though times were different back then, the same ideas can still be transferred to the western and eastern divide that exists in the architectural world.

The biennale is an important platform for architectural discourse that brings together a diverse range of designers from around the world, but is it really doing it’s job properly when the platform itself is still western-biased? In exhibits like “Wisdom of the Land” and many others that borrow ideas from eastern cultures, there is still a sense of either exoticism or primitivism. Exploring this unintentional political divide in architecture could be interesting.

OWN RESEARCH

Intention

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The Biennale is intended to provide a platform to bring people together from all over the world for architectural discourse In reality, there is high exclusivity and a lot of western-bias. Out of all the participants, there is only one participant from Africa, and that is South Africa. There are no participants from the middle east, and barely any participants from Mid-Asia. Knowing that the exhibit is set in Europe, more than 72% of the participants are European. This hardly classifies as a “world-wide” event, especially if the curators only ask part of the world to participate.

BIENNALE HISTORY RESEARCH Ghalya Alsanea | Biennale Research F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 12

BREAKING SOCIO-POLITICAL BARRIERS Ghalya Alsanea Biennale Research Documentation F18 48-400 A FREESPACE Venice Architecture Biennale 2018 Before, during, and after the studio visit to Venice, each individual chose a theme derived from the Biennale. This research looks at barriers resulting from socio-political issues and how different exhibits at the Venice Biennale start to tackle these barriers.

BREAKING SOCIO-POLITICAL BARRIERS Ghalya Alsanea | Biennale Research F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 13

POLITICAL BARRIERS

Israel National Pavilion: InStatus Quo - Structures of Negotiation “ e are interested in con ict and resolution of con ict architecture can take part of it ” ren a iv, ne of the urators

The Israel exhibit unravels the geopolitics of holy spaces, and the rules esta lished in the th century to re ulate con icts and facilitate co-existence. Through an architectural lens, the curators demonstrate the fragile and controversial system of cohabitation in the holy land, today’s Israel-Palestine, in the context of five major contested sites.

1. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem 2. The Mughrabi Ascent, Jerusalem 3. The Western Wall Plaza, Jerusalem 4. The Cave of the Patriarchs, Hebron/Al-Khalil 5. Rachel’s Tomb, Bethlehem.

CHOREOGRAPHY: PROTOCOLS IN SPACE AND TIME The Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem → The pavilion has a 3D model of the church of the holy sepulcher (shown above), color coded to show how the church is divided hrou hout history, the site has een a pivotal hristian land ark and an i portant destination of pil ri a e, resultin in it ein arred with con ict etween co petin hristian deno inations for ownership over its many sanctuaries. Legal instruments were implemented in the form of imposed territorial and temporal demarcations between six Christian communities. While the status quo is still legally enacted, it is reformulated and evolving constantly.

BREAKING SOCIO-POLITICAL BARRIERS Ghalya Alsanea | Biennale Research F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 14

POLITICAL BARRIERS - CONT. “ rchitecture as a tool that can look at the overnin ,and at the protocols of ehavior architecture as eanin , as pro ra , as schedule” —the curators.

MONUMENT: PERMANENT TEMPORARINESS The Mughrabi Ascent, Jerusalem → The Mughrabi Ascent is the only non-Muslim entrance leading to the Al-Aqsa Mosque above the Western Wall. Following the collapse of the earthen pathway in 2004, a much contested wooden footbridge was constructed by the Israeli authorities as a temporary solution. To date, no plans for a new, permanent bridge have met the demands of the struggling parties.

“The wooden bridge in its ‘permanent temporariness’ renders a postponed political solution and showcases onu ents as active a ents in the territorial conflict ” the curators

LANDSCAPE AND SCENOGRAPHY The Cave of the Patriarchs/Ibrahimi mosque → a site recognized as the actual location of tombs of the three great patriarchs and their wives. Historically a place of worship for both Jews and Muslims, the site has been divided so that Jews have access only to its southern halls, and Muslims its northern part. However, 20 days a year, and for 24 hours at a time, aligning with special holidays and under close military control, the site passes hands each reli ion is iven total use of all cha ers in the cave he ewish area is cleared all ewish artifacts and is vacant for a few moments before the Muslims enter with their own artifacts and turn the cave into a mosque for the next 24 hours.

From this research, we can see three major ways the Israel pavilion shows how their chosen sites dealt with political arriers and con icts he first su ests that maybe barriers are necessary in order to maintain a balance in Status Quo. hile contradictin to the need to reak arriers, the hurch of the oly epulcher has arriers that constantly shift and ove with ti e, akin the non-static, which ulti ately creates the uidity needed in that specific ti e n the other hand, the u hra i scent shows us that ay e the way to reak arriers, like the iant estern all, is to create a bridge that acts as a boundary connecting the two contradicting environments (i.e. a politically unstable plaza to a quiet holy space). Lastly, the Cave of the atriarchs su ests that the way to reak socio-political arriers is y creatin different time boundaries and sharing a space by scheduling when certain roups have ownership over the spaces verall, the srael pavilion su ests that there are no “ri ht” answers to reak such political barriers and tensions, but rather different ways that depend on circumstance.

BREAKING SOCIO-POLITICAL BARRIERS Ghalya Alsanea | Biennale Research F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 15

SOCIAL BARRIERS

Rozana Montiel: Stand Ground he e hi it recreates the wall on the round and puts a screen where the wall is to ake it see like the wall was deconstructed his co unicates the values of the office and their pro ects to “chan e arriers into oundaries ”

In addition, the exhibit showcases Montiel’s Common Unity project(shown below). It is a rehabilitation project for the public space for the San Pablo Xalpa Housing Unit in Azcapotzalco. The project deconstructs multiple fences and barriers that separate the communities, and transforms them into multi-use spaces that become arriers instead of oundaries ontiel and her office elieve that barriers are restricting, but boundaries are able to be penetrated.

Therefore, by identifying barriers and transforming them into boundaries, that is when the FREESPACE idea is being achieved. hrou hout her work, and even in the lecture we attended on cto er , she constantly e phasi es how “ eauty is a iven ri ht” and how architecture should not e e clusive pecifically in relation to the Fresnillo Playground (shown below), where she revitalized a paved sewage canal and transformed it into a playground. By creating a new transitional space that offers a safe recreational area and welcomes the public to a new habitat of local vegetation, she reaks that arrier y creatin a cli a le oundary he entions that when she did the project, the community responded by saying they do not deserve the project since they are considered part of the lower class. She closes by saying architecture and design should be for everyone and not just the upper classes.

BREAKING SOCIO-POLITICAL BARRIERS Ghalya Alsanea | Biennale Research F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 16

SOCIAL BARRIERS - CONT. hrou hout her work, and even in the lecture we attended on cto er , she constantly e phasi es how “ eauty is a iven ri ht” and how architecture should not e e clusive pecifically in relation to the Fresnillo Playground (shown below), where she revitalized a paved sewage canal and transformed it into a playground. By creating a new transitional space that offers a safe recreational area and welcomes the pu lic to a new ha itat of local ve etation, she reaks the canal wall barriers by creating a climbable boundary people can occupy. She mentions that when she did the project, the community responded by saying they do not deserve the project since they are considered part of the lower class. She closes by saying architecture and design should be for everyone and not just the upper classes.

AFTER

n a way this relates ack to the tand round e hi it in the iennale ven thou h that was not necessarily the intention, in a way the “deconstructed” wall on the round is reakin the social oundaries etween architects and the pu lic elieve the wall shows the boundaries that encase the architecture exhibit from the public, which emphasizes the divide between the profession and the people, touching upon a common theme in the Architecture world, the architecture of exclusivity. Rozana ontiel and her office fi ht these social arriers y desi nin for everyone and reakin physical arriers into oundaries BREAKING SOCIO-POLITICAL BARRIERS Ghalya Alsanea | Biennale Research F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 17

SOCIO-POLITICAL BARRIERS

Crimson Architecture: A City of Comings & Goings This exhibition is the result of a larger research project which explores the dynamics of migration, how it has shaped cities in the past, and how architecture and urban design might shape them in the future. The exhibit itself deals with migration and its spatial i pact on estern uropean ities hey are proposin a new way of thinkin and approachin desi nin for i ration

Politics, media and the design world nearly exclusively focuses on the images of poor labor migrants crowding out native shopkeepers, ille al aliens s uattin uildin s and resistin deportation, or on the tra ic fate of refu ees at our orders his exhibition aims to zooms out and see migration and cities as fundamentally connected. It zooms out from the singular, temporary, acute desi n intervention, and tries to redefine what is e pected fro architecture to ake our cities stron and ro ust so they can absorb the comings and goings of citizens over centuries. It zooms out from the focus on the ethnic identities and economic needs of the separate categories of migrants and tries to understand what they share with each other and with the current inhabitants of our cities.

i a e taken at the iennale BREAKING SOCIO-POLITICAL BARRIERS Ghalya Alsanea | Biennale Research F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 18

SOCIO-POLITICAL BARRIERS - CONT. “ fter all, we need real places where those citi ens who re uire o ility and e i ility can co e to ether, whether they e youn native entrepreneurs with a lar e international network, students who want to live inexpensively in a dynamic neighbourhood for three or four years, the newly arrived refugee who wants to uild a new life, or the i rant worker who needs a utch ase for his transnational e istence”

he e hi ition uestions how we can redefine cities in estern urope as crossroads of all sorts of people, local and global. How we can plan and design our cities so that they grow the robustness that is needed to withstand the endless movement of their citizens, while retaining their unique shape and identity. And what is needed in terms of architecture and urbanism so that our cities actually profit and row fro i ration ookin at the world around us, there is no reason to think that the in u of migrants into Europe and the Netherlands will remain at the same level or even decrease. The combination of the effects of climate change with those of extreme population growth in Africa, creates almost unimaginable projections for migration.

SOURCES InStatus Quo: https www do uswe it en speciali iennale in-statu- uo-a- alancin -force-for-political- ediation ht l https www haaret co israel-news culture -sites-for-sore-eyes-in-venice-israelis-showcase-loci-of-con icthttp www archipanic co in-statu- uo-israel-venice- iennalehttps www desi n oo co architecture israeli-pavilion-venice-architecture- iennale-statu- uo-structures-ne otiation- - https www etalocus es en news statu- uo-architecture-ne otiation-israeli-pavilion- iennale-di-vene iahttps co uart y the-uk-us-and-israel-pavilions-present-powerful-political-criti ues-at-the-venice- iennial https www archdaily co israeli-pavilion-at- -venice- iennale-e plores-the-history-of-ne otiations-over-holy-lands http danielle oroden ik telavivian co in-statu- uo-the-israeli-pavilion-at-the- th-architecture- iennale

Therefore, Crimson Architecture suggests that instead of creating more barriers to stop and hinder i ration, we as desi ners need to prepare for it and help it ourish Migration in and out of cities is a natural phenomenon, there is no use in stopping it hey e in with the acute pro le of asylu seekers and refu ees who are now leadin a difficult e istence on the ar ins of the etherlands with children that have no access to normal levels of care and education. “Instead of isolating them in marginal parts of the Netherlands, we could welcome them in those regions where there are jobs and where the scale and diversity of welfare and education provision is etter e uipped to deal with population sur es,” they co ent “The way to integrate refugees is to give them housing and jobs so they help create economic prosperity, but spatially they are prevented to do so. So there is absolutely a spatial question connected to this refu ee pro le ” - ichelle rovoost, ri son rchitecture istorian

n conclusion, ris son rchitecture is su estin to reak the socio-political arriers that exist between migrants and non-migrants by designing for both equally and not inherently separating them into refugee camps or marginal neighborhoods.

Stand Ground Sources: http ro ana ontiel co en https www la iennale or en architecture partecipants ro ana- ontiel-estudio-de-ar uitectura enice iennale “ he ractice of eachin ” ecture https www etalocus es en news stand- round- anifesto-how-create-places-ro ana- ontiel- iennale-architettura-di-vene iahttps www archdaily co co on-unity-ro ana- ontiel-estudio-de-ar uitectura A City of Comings and Goings Sources: ssay https www cri sonwe or spip php article http aarch dk info updates events city-of-co in s-and- oin s-se inar https www de een co dont-desi n-shelter-refu ees-kilian-kleinsch idt-rene- oer- ood-desi n- ad-world https www cri sonwe or spip php article

BREAKING SOCIO-POLITICAL BARRIERS Ghalya Alsanea | Biennale Research F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 19

BREAKING BARRIERS IN BLOOMFIELD Ghalya Alsanea Final Project Documentation F18 48-400 A FREESPACE The site is the abandoned Bloomfield Recreation Center. The project breif given was to ransform the quality and use of an underutilized or abandoned building and propose a design intervention for people, by incorporating ideas we researched and found at the Venice Biennale.

BREAKING BARRIERS IN BLOOMFIELD Ghalya Alsanea | Final Project F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 20

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EXISTING BUILDING BARRIERS ANALYSIS

First, I analyzed the existing building and site to look into the different barriers that exist, so I can start to understand how to change these barriers. I looked at different physical, visual and social borders.

Physically, the site has a lot of fences and physical barriers. It is also not easily accesible– especially for someone with a wheelchair or stroller. The building itself is compromised of a maze of walls, except for one open, doule-height space, which is the gym. Visually, the building does not provide a lot of visual access to its surroundings.

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BREAKING BARRIERS IN BLOOMFIELD Ghalya Alsanea | Final Project F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 21

Bloomfield, Pittsburgh, PA - Demographics

I analyzed the neighborhood barriers and found many physical and social barriers. It is difficult to access the west part of the site. The analysis Pittsburgh seems to show the site favoring one site of the community, while excluding many people. I took it as a design challenge to try and break the physical and social barriers by making the site more accessible and more permeable from all directions and access Bloomfield points.

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Source: Derived from the 2016 United States Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS).

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Bloomfield, Pittsburgh, PA - Demographics

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Source: Derived from the 2016 United States Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS).

$200K+

Population Breakdown By Race

$150K-$200K Pittsburgh

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Neighborhood Edge Bloomfield, Pittsburgh, PA - Site Context Bike Lanes Businesses

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Bus Line 86 - Liberty School

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25% 20%

Bus Line 87 - Friendship Greenery/Parks

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Age & Gender Breakdown

Population Breakdown By Race

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Age & Gender Breakdown

EXISTING CONDITIONS - CONT.

Bike Lanes Walking Radius From Site Bus Line 86 - Liberty

7 min w

alk

BREAKING BARRIERS IN BLOOMFIELD Ghalya | Final Project Si Bus Line 54 -Alsanea North Side/Oakland/South F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 22 Bus Line 87 - Friendship

EXISTING CONDITIONS - CONT. When analyzing the site, it became apparent that bloomfield and its surroundings is very diverse in terms of population, age, income, and household types. How can we start to break those barriers and provide a site that integrates this diverse range of people?

Population Density

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Low

Income

(based by block group)

High

Never Married + No Kids

(based on tract) Married + With Kids

Low

Residential vs Commercial

Age

(based by block group) Older

High

Younger

Commercial

Residential

SOCIAL & POLITICAL BORDERS Scale : 1’ = 1/256”

BREAKING BARRIERS IN BLOOMFIELD Ghalya Alsanea | Final Project F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 23

DEVELOPMENT - BUILDING When developing the building interior, the biggest challenge was figuring out how to break the physical and visual barriers that existed. My goal was to elevate people to provide visual access to the bridge and create different connections between the inside and outside. I was also considering how different people can start to occopy the space. For example, kids can play on the climbing structre, or the space underneath can be rented out for events. Also, a big issue with this building and site is accessibility,

BREAKING BARRIERS IN BLOOMFIELD Ghalya Alsanea | Final Project F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 24

DEVELOPMENT - SITE For the site, I was exploring different ways you can start to blur the barriers between inside and outside the building. The biggest challenges was looking at access point, dealing with water flows, and provide accessibility for all people.

BREAKING BARRIERS IN BLOOMFIELD Ghalya Alsanea | Final Project F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 25

DEVELOPMENT - CLIMBING STRUCTURE For the climbing structure the challenge was figuring out structure and how to keep people from falling – just general safety concerns. I was inspired by these two projects for their materiality, atmosphere and aesthetic.

Originally, I was looking into these modular woven peices that could be made by Bloomfield’s existing, large knitting and weaving community. But issues with division of labor and the structural integrety of the crochet arose. Hence, I started to pursue the use of architectural robotics and how they can start to weave carbon fiber into different shapes and patterns.

Japanese Fiber Artist Toshiko Horiuchi’s Work

Robotically Fabricated Carbon Fiber Pavilion in V+A London

BREAKING BARRIERS IN BLOOMFIELD Ghalya Alsanea | Final Project F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 26

FINAL Inspired by the idea of breaking barriers from the Biennale, the final project pursues the idea of breaking physical, visual and social barriers through the integration of different ways of movement.

The design breaks physical barriers by removing fences and making the site and building more accessible. It breaks visual barriers by elevating people to different heights in order to gain access to different views, plus creating a more transparent enclosure between inside and outside.

Finally, it breaks social barriers by providing a place for all people from different ages, backgrounds, income, etc.

In addition, something discussed in the Biennale was the idea of layering the past, present and future. My approach to the building was by selective demolition- only demolishing it is already falling apart or barriers that need to be removed in order to achieve the idea of weaving people together.

An example of the different layers of time simultaneously existing is the bike room. I choose to keep the bikes and display them from the ceilling as an ode to Bloomfield as a biking community and to still leave what was previously there.

As for the future, anything is possible.

I tried to create an idea that can be replicated and reconfigured based on the context. I played with the idea of having a robot on site for future fabrication and the growth of the climbing structures; maybe even include the community in designing the modulesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; weaving pattern and such.

Finally, to reduce building maintanence costs, the building provides a thermally insulated enclosure and only conditions thw two office spaces. Plus, the water for the building is harvested from the site.

BREAKING BARRIERS IN BLOOMFIELD Ghalya Alsanea | Final Project F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 27

FINAL - SECTIONS

NORTH TO SOUTH SECTION

PRESERVING THE MEMORY OF THE BIKE ROOM

EAST TO WEST SECTION

BREAKING BARRIERS IN BLOOMFIELD Ghalya Alsanea | Final Project F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 28

SITE PLAN

kel Wa y

Ella

St

Ida lin

Nic

Wa y Mo tt eS t

St po

dro ff

l

poo

bik e

urt

ll co

tba

rac k

bas ke

ce boc

ey

ock

kh

dec

ff po dro

Dar gan

parkin g

Dar

sie S

t

par k

ing

par k

ing

E Wing St

e

bike rack

Ave r ty

more integrated baseball field

Ave Lib e

an path edestri

Blo o

mf i e l dB rid g

Pa n a ma Wa y

pla ygr oun

d

Liber ty

ska te p ark

e and p new bik

FINAL - SITE

BREAKING BARRIERS IN BLOOMFIELD Ghalya Alsanea | Final Project F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 29

FINAL - AXONOMETRIC PLANS

2 POOL

1 2

HIGHER PARKS

1

1

1

ROOF 1

1

1 2

G

G ROOF

1 2 1

G LOWER PARKS

G G STREET BREAKING BARRIERS IN BLOOMFIELD Ghalya Alsanea | Final Project F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 30

FINAL - AXONOMETRIC PLANS

P OO

L LE

VEL

BREAKING BARRIERS IN BLOOMFIELD Ghalya Alsanea | Final Project F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 31

FINAL - AXONOMETRIC PLANS

UPP

KS R A ER P

P OO

L LE

VEL

BREAKING BARRIERS IN BLOOMFIELD Ghalya Alsanea | Final Project F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 32

FINAL - AXONOMETRIC PLANS

LOW E

R PA RKS

L

VE E L ET

E

S TR

BREAKING BARRIERS IN BLOOMFIELD Ghalya Alsanea | Final Project F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 33

FINAL - PLANS

GROUND FLOOR SCALE: 1’ = 1/8”

BREAKING BARRIERS IN BLOOMFIELD Ghalya Alsanea | Final Project F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 34

FINAL - PLANS

FIRST FLOOR SCALE: 1’ = 1/8”

BREAKING BARRIERS IN BLOOMFIELD Ghalya Alsanea | Final Project F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 35

FINAL - PLANS

SECOND FLOOR SCALE: 1’ = 1/8”

BREAKING BARRIERS IN BLOOMFIELD Ghalya Alsanea | Final Project F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 36

FINAL - PLANS

ROOF FLOOR SCALE: 1’ = 1/8”

BREAKING BARRIERS IN BLOOMFIELD Ghalya Alsanea | Final Project F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 37

FINAL - RENDERS

IN THE ATRIUM

BREAKING BARRIERS IN BLOOMFIELD Ghalya Alsanea | Final Project F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 38

FINAL - RENDERS

INSIDE THE BRIDGE STRUCTURE

BREAKING BARRIERS IN BLOOMFIELD Ghalya Alsanea | Final Project F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 39

FINAL - DIAGRAM CONDITIONED SPACE THERMALLY INSULATED ENCLOSED UNCODITIONED SPACE

SECOND

FIRST

GROUND

BREAKING BARRIERS IN BLOOMFIELD Ghalya Alsanea | Final Project F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 40

FINAL - MODELS

BREAKING BARRIERS IN BLOOMFIELD Ghalya Alsanea | Final Project F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 41

FINAL - MODELS

BREAKING BARRIERS IN BLOOMFIELD Ghalya Alsanea | Final Project F18 | 48-400 A | FREESPACE 42